Men's Basketball Plays Eckerd in SSC Tournament

WINTER PARK, Fla. -- Barry University men's basketball team will play Eckerd in the first round of the Sunshine State Conference Championships at Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimee, Fla., at noon Wednesday.

The Buccaneers (19-7, 9-7 SSC) finished fourth in the league. Eckerd (15-13, 7-9) is the No. 7 seed in the league postseason tournament. The two teams split, each winning on the other's home court this season. Both games were decided by three points or less.

Barry's Danny Rabinowitz and Jim McCurdy will call the game in a free RADIO BROADCAST.

The Buccaneers, ranked sixth in the South Region poll, are also fighting for a bid to the NCAA Division II National Tournament. The top eight teams from each region qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

Barry is coming off a 30-point win at Florida Tech Saturday in which the Bucs set a school record for free throw percentage in a game, going 16 of 17 for 94.1 percent. The Buccaneers also had a season-high 30 assists in the win over the Panthers, which is tied for second in school history.

Florida Southern won the league regular season title, and earned the top seed to the postseason tournament. The Mocasins (24-4, 12-4) received a bye into Saturday's noon semifinals. Saint Leo (22-7, 10-6) occupies the No. 2 seed and Tampa (18-8, 10-6) earned the No. 3 seed.

No. 5 Rollins (14-12) will meet No. 6 Nova Southeastern (12-16) in Wednesday's other first round game at 5 p.m.

Live Video broadcasts and Live Stats will be available. Live Video links will be available prior to the first day of the tournament.

Tickets are $10 at the gate. Court level premium seats on a limited basis are $20.

SERIES RECORD: Barry is 22-41 all-time against the Tritons ... Barry and Eckerd split the regular season series, each winning on the other’s home floor.

EYES ON OPPONENTS: The Tritons are coming off a 74-62 loss to Lynn on the road Saturday ... Josh Snodgrass had 17 pts in that game ... Snodgrass leads the Tritons in scoring (14.5) while pulling down 4.7 reb ... Jerrick Stevenson is averaging 14.3 ppg and 5.5 reb ... Alex Bodney is scoring 11.8 ppg and leads Eckerd in assists with 61.

DOWN TO THE WIRE: The two games between Barry and Eckerd this year were decided by three points or less ... The point differential between the two teams was a plus-one for Barry, 151-150.

RECORD-SETTING DAY: In Barry’s 109-79 win at Florida Tech to end the regular season, the Bucs shot a school record 94 percent from the free throw line, going 16 of 17 ... Barry’s 30 assists in that game were the most all season, and second most in school history ... The Bucs’ 109 points are the third most in a game in school history.

NO MARGIN FOR ERROR: Barry has been involved in 12 games decided by five points or less ... The Bucs are 8-4 in contests decided by two possessions ... Barry’s last two losses have been by a combined six points.

200 CLUB: Barry Jr. PG Deric Hill, who broke Nelson Fonseca’s 1993-94 season assist record, became the only player in school history with 200 assists in a season.

AMONG NATION’S BEST: Deric Hill ranks second in the nation in assists per game (7.8) ... He is fourth in total assists (204) ... Hill ranks sixth in the country in steals per game (2.62) ... He is eighth in total steals (68).

HELPING HANDS: Barry ranks third in the nation in assists per game as a team at 19.2 ... The Bucs lead the Sunshine State Conference in that category ... The 19.2 assists per game ranks first in school season history.

100 CLUB: Barry scored over 100 points twice this season.

DOUBLED UP: Bucs Soph. F Yunio Barrueta has 11 double-doubles this season ... He ranks 23rd in the country in that category ... Barrueta has scored in double figures in the last 20 straight games ... He’s reached double figures in 23 of 26 games.

MAGNE-FIED: Sr. F Magne Fivelstad’s 84.2 free throw percentage currently ranks second in school single-season history ... Cliff DuBois’ 1995-96 percentage of 85.0 is tops in school history ... Fivelstad leads the league in free throw shooting this year ... Since Jan. 8, he’s 55 of 60 from the line ... He been perfect in 11 games ... Fivelstad ranks third all-time in school history with an 81.1 percentage from the stripe.

RAINING 3s: Barry Jr. G Juan Ferrales leads the SSC in 3-point FG made per game (3.0) ... He ranks fourth in school season history in 3-point FG made (77) ... He needs 12 more triples to tie Cliff DuBois’ season record of 89 in 1997-98.

CLEANING THE GLASS: At 6-foot-2, Jr. F Savad Garner leads the SSC lead in offensive rebounds per game (3.23) ... Garner currently ranks tied for sixth in school single-season history in offensive rebounds (84) ... With six more, he would move into the top five.

SHARP SHOOTERS: Barry led the league in FG% at .475.

ALL BUT ONE: Barry’s had multiple players score in double figures in every game this year ... In all but one game -- the loss at Saint Leo -- at least two starters have reached double figures.

4 FOR 30: The Bucs have had a player score 30 or more points in a game four times this season ... Juan Ferrales has done it in 3 games ... Fr. F Adrian Gonzalez scored 30 once ... The last time a Bucs team had a player score 30 or more in four games was the 2000-01 season when Jason Junker did it three times and Travon Broadway did it once.

AGAINST RANKED TEAMS: The Bucs are 2-1 against ranked opponents this season.

TRIPLE PLAY: Barry buried 10 or more triples in 10 games this year ... The 198 threes this year ranks 6th in school history.

LAST 15 STANDING: Barry was one of 15 unbeaten teams in the country through the Christmas break.

YO ADRIAN: Fr. F Adrian Gonzalez needs 6 FG to be ranked among the top 5 rookies in the nation in shooting % ... The NCAA minimum is 5 made FG per game ... He’s at 4.96.

TEAM DSBG THEME: Barry started a new #DSBG theme in this new era of Buccaneer basketball ... Don't Settle, Be Great is the team's new catch phrase this year.

24/7 TWITTER: Jr. G Deric Hill is on Twitter to the wee hours of the morning ... Earlier this year he pleaded on Twitter for someone to give him a new phone.

KIDD CAN PLAY: Fr. G Ian Powell, a walk-on, sports a flat top reminiscent of Kidd from Kidd n Play in "House Party"

STUDIO BOYZ: Ian Powell has a recording studio in his house, out of his closet ... Powell, Deric Hill, Arie Williams and Henry "Philly" Leonardo all record songs there.

ADRIAN HOMEWARD BOUND: Fr. Adrian Gonzalez goes home before every game to stretch out ... His dad, Ariel, comes to every game, making road trips wherever the Bucs play.

ARIE THE DUNKER: Fr. G Arie Williams nicknamed himself, "The Dunker," after throwing it down in practice one time ... He's also affectionately known as "South Side" ... He hails from the Southwest side of Chicago.

THE LONE RANGER: Arie Williams' Twitter handle is @TheLoneRanger10.

PIANO PLAYERS: Jr. guards Juan Ferrales and Nico Ostbye have both taken a piano class.

MAGNE OR MON-YAY: Sr. F Magne Fivelstad went three years before telling anyone at Barry the correct pronunciation of his first name ... The phonetically-correct way to say his name is "Mon-YAY" ... His last name is pronounced "FEE-vill-stod."

OLD SCHOOL: First-year Bucs coach Butch Estes has been coaching so long -- 31 years in total -- he's not quite up to speed on new technology ... For one, he has nightmares because the Bucs don't use DVDs in game film exchange ... Two, he still doesn't know how to retweet ... Three, he doesn't realize his Facebook page is set up as a public figure.

RIDIN' SOLO: Butch Estes rarely takes the bus on road trips ... He is constantly having Bucs bus driver, "Trav," make a special stop somewhere along the way, where coach drops off his car ... Or Estes drives by himself to the road games.

SAVAD's WORD IS GOSPEL: Jr. F Savad Garner has performed in a gospel choir in South Carolina.

COACHING CAROUSEL: Juan Ferrales, Deric Hill, Garrett Naugton and Savad Garner each have played for three different coaches in college.

NOMADIC PLAYERS: Juan Ferrales and Savad Garner have played for three different schools in college.

36-HOUR DAYS: Every "morning" or afternoon depending on whether you're on real-time hours or Butch Estes' clock, the Bucs coach is complaining he wished there were more hours in a day ... Assistant coach Ryan Saunders designed a clock that counts up to 18 as a gadget for Estes' birthday so he could have 36 hours in a day.